What I don't understand is why people look at what he did in Philly and assume it has anything to do with what he'd look like on a decent well-coached team.
Probably because it's exactly what he did in college on a decent well-coached Duke team.
You mean, operate out of the post as a top scorer for a team that won a national championship?
Lol. TP.
Look, I barely care about this debate. A couple people here are being straight-up irrationally negative about Okafor's time. Is he going to be as good as Karl Towns? Very unlikely. Is he some scrub? Of course not. That dude can play. Offensively, he can be a game-changer for a team. Defensively, he needs work. But he's 20 years old and it's pretty obvious he's an elite prospect in this league by any measure of "elite prospect". Again, I don't know how fans can be so hypocritical to give a guy like Marcus Smart a pass after two straight seasons of ghastly offensive play, while at the same time acting like Okafor is a finished product incapable of ever improving. It's easier for a poor defender to develop into a mediocre defender than it is for a poor offensive player to develop into a mediocre offensive player.
And at the end of the day, we're all rooting for Boston to land the #1 pick. If they end up 4-6, there's a fairly good chance that the player we draft will be significantly worse than Okafor. I don't get the premise that anyone we draft there is automatically going to be better than the 20 year old rookie coming off a season with per-36 numbers of 21 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.4 blocks with 51% shooting. That's a pretty stupid premise, honestly... and anyone who expects that the guys taken 4-6 are a lock to be that productive as rookies is setting themselves up for disappointment. Also, don't count on the idea that Philly will gleefully give up their stud prospect for one of those guys. There's a pretty decent chance they'll have better options in the trade market.
The amount of scoffing at Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor on this forum this season is pretty ridiculous. I'm rooting for the best outcome in the draft, but I'm entirely prepared to see us take a guy who can't hold Parker or Okafor's jock. If Parker disappointingly peaks out as the next Glenn Robinson and Okafor disappointingly peaks out as the next Al Jefferson, can you really sit there hyper-criticizing their flaws while the #4 pick ends up the next Dion Waiters or Thomas Robinson?
My concerns with Okafor are these:
1. Incredibly slow up and down the floor (probably the NBA's slowest starting center)
2. Mediocre defense and rebounding (it's possible I'm being too generous here)
3. Not much of a passer
4. Can't seem to stay out of trouble in Boston.
I don't see the Okafor Al Jefferson comparison. Jefferson was a GREAT rebounder. Pre-knee injury he had a super quick bounce that allowed him to grab rebounds on the second or third leap. Okafor doesn't have that. He's much more like Eddy Curry athletically. Super big, super strong, suuuuuper slow, and before you ask Eddy Curry also averaged 8.5 rebounds per 36 as a 19 year old NBA Center. I agree Okafor is a great post scorer, but I can't for the life of me figure out how you could play him more than 22 minutes a game and still keep up the pace necessary to win games in the modern NBA.